Project DIGICARE

Digital Competences for the Improvement of social intervention Actions in Risk of Exclusion contexts

Third-sector organisations play an important role in supporting people experiencing social exclusion and disadvantage. However, many operate with limited resources and rely on largely manual processes to collect information, assess needs, monitor interventions and evaluate their impact. At the same time, digitisation in the third sector remains behind other professional fields, and digital competences have been identified as a significant training gap.

DIGICARE addresses this challenge by strengthening the ability of social intervention professionals to use advanced digital tools, particularly data management systems and artificial intelligence (AI). These technologies can support the collection, analysis and interpretation of information, helping professionals develop more evidence-based approaches and make better-informed decisions when working with socially excluded groups.

The project brings together expertise from social intervention organisations, vocational education and training providers, higher education and digital development. It will create practical Open Educational Resources (OERs), including examples of social intervention practices and training modules on data management and AI. It will also develop recommendations for incorporating these resources into vocational education and training (VET) and continuing vocational education and training (CVET) programmes. All learning materials will be freely available through an accessible web-based training platform, enabling both self-directed learning and use by training providers.

Our role in the project

Proposal writing

PM & development

Communication and dissemination

Web page

Graphic design

Project objectives

1

To provide social intervention professionals with tailored training materials to develop digital skills in the use of data management systems and AI.

2

To contribute to modernising VET/CVET curricula related to social intervention and ensure that advanced digital tools become a standard component of training for future social professionals.

3

To ensure that training for social intervention professionals remains innovative and up to date with relevant technological developments.

4

To foster the implementation of data-driven social intervention methodologies.

5

To foster collaboration and knowledge exchange between VET providers and social intervention organisations.

Main results

Best practices in social intervention

A collection of 10 replicable examples of social intervention approaches, including their context, beneficiaries and methodology, together with guidance on how digital tools can support their implementation and improve their effectiveness and scalability.

Training modules on advanced digital tools

Four practical modules designed to develop competences in data management and AI for social intervention professionals.

Recommendations for VET/CVET integration

Guidance for VET and CVET providers, third-sector organisations and other training stakeholders on incorporating DIGICARE resources into formal curricula and non-formal professional development programmes.

DIGICARE training platform

An accessible web-based learning environment providing free access to the project’s OERs for both self-directed learning and use by training providers. Resources will be available under a Creative Commons CC BY-SA 4.0 licence.

Expected impact

DIGICARE is expected to strengthen the capacity of social intervention professionals and organisations to use data and AI in their everyday work. The acquired competences are intended to support more accurate needs assessments, realistic objective setting, improved analysis and better-informed interventions for disadvantaged groups. The flexible training resources will also enable organisations to incorporate digital upskilling into their internal staff development.

For VET and CVET providers, the project will contribute to updating training provision in line with technological developments and evolving labour market needs. By facilitating the integration of advanced digital competences into existing curricula and professional training, DIGICARE seeks to strengthen links between education and social intervention and encourage wider adoption of data-driven approaches across the sector.